


an elpidian daydream

by miaouerie



Series: rebelcaptain/hunger games AU [2]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, F/M, Fluff, Post-Games (Hunger Games), sleepy train cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miaouerie/pseuds/miaouerie
Summary: The newest victor of the Hunger Games has been crowned; on the train back to District 5, Draven watches his two charges sleep as he considers their future.(Or, an alternate ending toa pyrrhic victory.)
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso
Series: rebelcaptain/hunger games AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026072
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	an elpidian daydream

**Author's Note:**

> "Elpidian" - Of, or relating to Elpis; the spirit of hope (Greek). 
> 
> This bonus chapter was written to take place directly after chapter 30 of [a pyrrhic victory](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26863636); for significant amounts of angst you can imagine that chapter 31 happens afterwards, but I like to think that this particular moment happens in a timeline where everything goes well and our characters eventually get their happy ending.

For the majority of Panem, the Hunger Games concluded with a magnificent fireworks display at the Closing Ceremony in the Capitol which was broadcasted live to the rest of the country. But for the escorts, the ending of the Games was always anticlimactic; during the pomp and circumstance was when the victors were hastily shuttled onto waiting trains with two waiting caskets to depart immediately for their respective districts—excluding the winning district, which came back with a new victor and one dead tribute instead of two and a scheduled departure for the following afternoon. Throughout his tenure as District 5's escort Draven's chaperoned a varying number of victors back from the Capitol; he first worked with two, then three, and then was down to one before this year brought Jyn Erso’s victory.

She may not ever come to understand the full extent of what was done to bring her home. The last time Draven participated in such an ambitious undertaking was during the Games when District 5’s last victor was crowned; Jeron's commitment to move heaven and earth had been what brought his son back home alive.

Draven had often pondered the futility of this nonachievement. Saving Cassian only condemned him; he was kept alive, but with a debt to be repaid with his body over and over again. Draven watched it all unfold—he was responsible for escorting the boy to each client, after all—and could not comprehend the motivation, or the purpose, of doing such a thing. Out of familial love? Jeron was no longer around to see the results of his actions and Cassian didn’t live with his mother anymore; both came about as a result of Cassian winning his Games.

But after Draven shepherds his two charges onto the waiting train and shuts out the last of the men in camera suits, he thinks he might have caught a glimpse of what Jeron could have hoped for his son.

The two of them are sitting together on a loveseat in the dining car, shoulders apart but close enough that their thighs touch. Jyn takes Cassian’s hand in hers just as Draven slides the door open, but doesn’t let go after he enters.

“We’ll be arriving in District 5 at 23:20, just short of midnight,” Draven informs them. “There will be a minimal camera crew for the arrival but the majority will be at the town plaza tomorrow morning. Cassian, your mother will be present. Jyn, the uncle you call Saw Gerrera will be present as well.”

Both of them react as expected; that is to say, the news is received with surprised silence. But then the two of them share a look, one with meaning that Draven isn’t privy to despite his full knowing of Cassian’s tells. Whatever was said unspoken curbs in the portent of emotion in Jyn’s eyes; Cassian thanks him, and Draven leaves them to their privacy.

Later on, when Draven goes to summon them for supper he enters the car while both are asleep. He knows better than to try waking an unconscious victor by touch, let alone two of them—but he still takes a moment to regard the gratifying sight:

They don’t appear to have moved much from their couch except that Cassian has shifted to lean his arm atop the armrest, to better angle his shoulder down so that Jyn can rest her head there. His nose is tucked into her hair and together they look so young and untroubled; in peaceful slumber, the past few weeks of insurmountable stress and worry are soothed away.

As he considers leaving to return and wake them later, Cassian’s eyes open. Dark brown irises meet steel blue in startled contact… and all Draven can read there is sleepy contentment. He watches as Cassian’s hand shifts to hold one of Jyn’s, who opens her eyes briefly to peer up at him before looking over at Draven with a suspicious-but-sleepy stare of her own.

But after a subtle squeeze from Cassian’s hand she blinks just once before deciding to settle herself against him again, comfortable enough to be in his space.

Part of Draven had been curious how much of his affection for her Cassian was faking as his Games strategy for Jyn. As far as unconventional stratagems went, both father and son had them in spades—while Jeron relied on highlighting a father’s love for his son as a call to action, Cassian played up a potential romance that the Capitol couldn't help but be enamored with. Draven had to give it to him; he had the whole Capitol and likely all of Panem fooled.

But there’s something in the way that Cassian carefully rearranges himself against her, shifting to rest his cheek atop her head. His gaze softens, looking down at Jyn’s sleeping form as if she’s a miracle, something profoundly precious to hold close—or otherwise be close to, perhaps that is enough; his eyes slip closed though his thumb still moves in slow circles where their hands are clasped together, until even that movement ceases with sleep.

He did it; Cassian saved her. That should be enough. Perhaps in a better world, it would be.


End file.
